Books published by Thames & Hudson Ltd

Brett Whiteley was one of the most dynamic and talented artists in the history of Australian art, an artist whose recognition had spread worldwide before his untimely death in 1992. Early in his career he established a name for himself in London, exhibiting at the Whitechapel Art Gallery and coming into contact with many British painters - Francis Bacon and David Hockney among others. His early paintings startled critics and fellow artists, but even at that point, two basic subjects were evident: the landscape and the nude, elements which became the mainstay of his oeuvre. At the root of all Whiteley's work was a draughtsmanship of stunning virtuosity, capable of capturing all the poetic arabesque of a river in a single sweeping line of brush and ink, or the erotic curves of the human body in a few searching strokes of charcoal. This volume presents an illuminating evaluation of Whiteley's achievement. Works dating from the 1950s to the last years of his life, illustrated in over 180 colour plates, allow Whiteley's career to be surveyed in its entirety. Barry Pearce, Head Curator at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, provides a comprehensive overview of Whiteley's life and art; Bryan Robertson offers an impression of the artist's years in London; and Wendy Whiteley, the artist's wife and companion for over three decades, contributes an intimate portrait of the man behind the work. Superbly illustrated and produced, Brett Whiteley: Art & Life is a fitting tribute to one of Australia's most significant artists, a man whose outstanding work excites, amazes and impresses us no less now than it did when first created.

Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004) studied painting before taking up photography in his early twenties. This title includes selections from his photographs of France, Spain, America, India, Russia, Mexico and pre-revolutionary China.

Reproduces the most important of the fully decorated pages of the Book of Kells, with a series of enlargements showing minute details. This book also looks at the artists, the text and the writing, and has an account of the historical background of the book.

Derek Jarman's garden is in the flat expanse of shingle that faces the nuclear power station in Dungeness, Kent. He mixed the flint, shells and driftwood of Dungeness with indigenous and introduced plants. This book is his own record of how this garden evolved, from its beginnings in 1985.

In 32 entrancing paintings, Susan Herbert opens up an unsuspecting world of Shakespeare interpreted by cats with all their winning ways. This imaginative artist presents an array of well-known characters in the great Shakespearean plays, from the tragic Romeo and Juliet to the mischevious Titania.

Presents a portrait of gay men and women throughout time and across the globe whose lives have influenced society at large. This title features such celebrated figures as Michelangelo, Frederick the Great and Harvey Milk.

Presents a case for the interest and importance of the English arts during the modern period.

The first monograph on Richard Smith, a key figure in the development of British art. Richard Smith (1931-2016) was one of the most original painters of his generation, and one of the most underrated. As Barbara Rose said of Smith's major Tate Gallery retrospective in 1975, he was 'at once in and out of touch with the currents of the mainstream ... au courant and aloof at the same time.' That he latterly slipped under the radar to some extent is partly explained by his detachment from the mainstream as well as by his frequent switching of studios between England and the USA, although this helped charge his creative batteries. He is the only artist of his stature who has not been represented by a monograph, which the dazzling presentation of images in Richard Smith: Artworks now fulfils. It has been produced with the generous collaboration of the Richard Smith Foundation. Richard Smith: Artworks traces Smith's entire career, from the breakthrough lyrical abstraction of the early Pop-inflected paintings, through the radical shaped canvases and three-dimensional works that he produced in the 1960s, to the 'Kite' works beginning in 1972 and, eventually, his return to the flat canvas. As a Senior Curator at Tate, Dr Chris Stephens knew Smith well, and he contributes a wide-ranging introduction to Smith's art and life. Prof David Alan Mellor investigates and explains the Anglo-American cultural contexts that drove Smith's art, while Alex Massouras's two themed essays, 'Young and British' and 'From Motion Pictures to Flight', explore Smith's originality from fresh perspectives. The book is completed with an Afterword by its editor, Martin Harrison.

The first children's picture book on Hilma af Klint and her pioneering work. Hilma af Klint (1862-1944) began painting her abstract and highly symbolic images as early as 1906, long before Kandinsky and Malevich arrived at what is generally regarded as the birth of modern abstract art. She was heavily influenced by spiritual ideologies and claimed that she painted on instruction from the spirit world, for the future. Until recently overlooked by art historians, she is now lauded around the world, and will be the subject of a major exhibition at Tate Modern in 2023. This book is not only about Hilma af Klint's art, but also about the magic that surrounded her. Brimming with quality reproductions of the artist's work and with illustrations by Karin Eklund, it will appeal to all children wanting to learn more about the thrilling life and work of this groundbreaking artist.

The compelling story of over 5000 years of Scottish art, told by renowned contemporary Scottish artist and broadcaster, Lachlan Goudie.

In 1799 Napoleon's army uncovered an ancient stele in the Nile delta. Its inscription, recorded in three distinct scripts - ancient Greek, Coptic, and hieroglyphic - would provide scholars with the first clues to unlocking the secrets of Egyptian hieroglyphs. This title is suitable for those interested in Egypt, decipherment and code-breaking.

The first in a series of four thematic volumes devoted to the world-class Kramlich Collection, the largest and most significant private collection of modern and contemporary media art. How does art respond to contemporary social questions? How, especially, does moving-image art address the themes that move us most? Drawn on works from the Kramlich Collection of time-based media art, The Human Condition comments on a range of complex political issues such as civil war, psychological isolation, human rights, gender relations, nuclear catastrophe and planetary degradation. Along the way, the featured artists innovate in their hybrid use of sound, image, performance, sculpture and screen technology. Since their first acquisition in 1987, pioneering collectors Pamela and Richard Kramlich have established one of the foremost international collections of media, video, film, slide, photography and performance art. In the first of four volumes devoted to the collection, The Human Condition presents signature works by internationally recognized artists such as Marina Abramovic, Doug Aitken, Dara Birnbaum, James Coleman, Pierre Huyghe, William Kentridge, Christian Marclay, Steve McQueen, Richard Mosse, Bruce Nauman, Shirin Neshat and Nam June Paik. The Human Condition also features newly commissioned essays from leading curators and scholars specializing in time-based media art, including Erika Balsom, Bill Brown, Adrienne Edwards, Chrissie Iles, Isaac Julien, Barbara London, Mark Nash, Catherine Wood and others. This book engages both newcomers and experts in the field with captivating imagery and rigorous reflection on some of the most influential contemporary art practices of the 20th and 21st centuries.

An accessible introduction to the life and work of this trailblazing pioneer of early modernism, published to coincide with a major exhibition at the Royal Academy, London. Paula Modersohn-Becker is today hailed as one of the great pioneers of modernism. When she died in 1907 at the age of just 31, she had completed more than 700 paintings and 1,000 drawings and prints. Despite selling only a few paintings during her lifetime, her distinct style, daring subject matter and perseverance in overcoming barriers to women left a significant artistic mark on the brief epoch between the old and the new, and paved the way for the German avant-garde. Uwe M. Schneede, one of the foremost experts on Modersohn-Becker's work, shows how the artist translated her life's experiences into her own, very distinctive, pictorial language. He focuses in particular on her time in Paris, where she absorbed the luminouspalette and expressive brushwork of the French avantgarde, and which so strongly impacted her ambitions and artistic trajectory. Schneede's lively narrative is supported by some 120 illustrations, and peppered throughout with quotations from Modersohn's letters and diaries.

A revised edition of this popular history of design, updated to reflect innovations since the book's first publication in 2016. Design: The Whole Story takes a close look at the key developments, movements and practitioners of design around the world, from the beginnings of industrial manufacturing to the present day. Organized chronologically, it locates design within its technological, cultural, economic, aesthetic and theoretical contexts. From the high-minded moralists of the 19th century to the radical thinkers of modernism - and from the emergence of showmen such as Raymond Loewy in the 1930s to today's superstars such as Philippe Starck - the book provides in-depth coverage of a subject that touches all our lives. Iconic works that mark significant steps forward or that characterize a particular era or approach - such as Marcel Breuer's Wassily chair of 1925, Eliot Noyes' corporate identity work for IBM in the 1950s and Matthew Carter's Verdana typeface, designed to be read on screen - are analysed in detail, while the text sets out the framework of ideas, intent and technology within which differing approaches to design have evolved. From the cars we drive and the products we buy to the graphics that surround us, we are all consumers of design. Design: The Whole Story provides all the information needed to decode the material world.

The definitive history of the iconic '90s videogame TV show, written by host Dominik Diamond. GamesMaster: An Oral History charts the highs and lows of Channel 4's anarchic UK videogames entertainment show. Guided by show host Dominik Diamond and with a foreword by one-time games playing champion Robbie Williams, GamesMaster: An Oral History features over forty contributors including production crew, celebrity guests and the games-playing members of the public who became either playground heroes or defeated outcasts vying for the iconic Golden Joystick prize. Spanning seven chapters covering each of the show's distinctly themed series, the book documents the instant and phenomenal success of the show, the creativity behind its inception, and the ups and downs experienced behind the scenes. The lineup includes: Dominik Diamond (show host), Robbie Williams, Dexter Fletcher, Jane Hewland (executive producer), Mike Miller (head of sport, Channel 4), Dave 'The Games Animal' Perry (commentator), Jonny Ffinch (producer), Danielle Woodyatt (Virgin Games), Violet Berlin, Pat Sharp, Vic Reeves, Uri Geller, John Regis MBE, Stewart Lee, Richard Herring, Zig and Zag, and many more. First broadcast in 1992 amid a brash youth television takeover, the ambitious and sometimes chaotic production of GamesMaster is also a story of the 1990s, set against a backdrop of videogame console wars, Britpop, and a curious new thing called the World Wide Web.

A guide to the best of the collections at the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar. With flagship architecture by I. M. Pei, an interior designed by J.-M. Wilmotte, and one of the world's finest collections of its type, the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar, is a dazzling showcase of the artistic achievements of the Islamic world. The collection represents the highest expression of artistic culture, covering lands from Spain to Central Asia and India, and ranging in date from the early Islamic period to the nineteenth century, including metalwork, miniatures, carpets, calligraphy and ceramics. Published to coincide with the re-opening of the museum galleries, this guide brilliantly conveys the quality and significance of the Museum of Islamic Art collection, presenting key objects with explanatory texts from the museum curatorial team.

A humorous new book from the acclaimed author-illustrator Shinsuke Yoshitake. Everyone has something that makes them feel self-conscious. It might be the smell of your breath, the size of your nose, or the way your shirt sleeves bunch up under your jumper. At the centre of this story is a little boy who has a small but embarrassing problem: every time he pees, a few drops dribble on to his underpants. Curious, he asks other children if they have the same issue. He soon discovers a simple life lesson: everyone is battling some kind of irritation.

A humorous look at what life is like with a fire-breathing dragon.

A beautifully designed, fact-filled fold-out book on Antarctica. John, an intrepid journalist, has long dreamt of visiting Antarctica - and finally his dream is coming true. He's off to Antarctica to be part of a scientific expedition. Join him on his journey as he learns all about this amazing continent and the people who work there.